Smoking poles littered the target range. Not even the bitterly cold wind seemed able to cool down the blackened wood, though it did keep the smoke from forming a haze over the ground. Red embers glowed even brighter when the wind blew through, breathing additional life to the smoldering wood exposed by Yaric’s recent spell casting.
Lightning was everything he thought it would be. Fast, powerful… and slow to cast. It just took too much arcana to power it.
Every spell in their lesson plans had been learned, even when pooling their spells together. Much of their recent lessons had been spent experimenting. They switched out components, combined spells, and even used separate spells together.
Lauren had thought to add dust to their wind spell instead of simply changing the mixture of gasses, which opened up dozens of possibilities. Sven sent water after his superheated shards of rock, and he even managed to improve the effects by making changes to the shape of the stone. Li Na augmented those same shards, causing them to strike like boulders.
Then Yaric had found that they could use some of Emil’s ideas for secondary effects, while still keeping the original function. Such as wind blades that dispersed flammable gas after striking a target and breaking apart, improving the effectiveness of a fireball that followed. That led to changing something to create a secondary function in the original spell. The carbon shell in the explosive fireball burnt away in the detonation, which was great, its job was done. But Yaric added pieces of stone and eventually metal inside the shell. The damage varied dramatically depending on how they spread, but the effect was always devastating.
Of course, they had also realized that they needed to actually cast their lightning spell as well, and not just practice in the Tech Duinn. No amount of time in a chair was ever going to get them used to the flash or sudden blast of heat. Emil also showed them how to clear the sinks harmlessly if they were interrupted, so while they weren’t likely to be able to dump the arcana harmlessly in a combat situation, anything that happened on the range should be okay, and they could now abort the casting at any time as well.
The real reason High Wizard Spyros showed them the technique was so they could continue charging the spell while it was still being created. If anything went wrong, they would just vent the power source and let the spell collapse.
Still, they averaged around fifteen seconds between them. Yaric was significantly faster at ten seconds, with Lauren close behind, but they had been practicing the spell along with that particular casting technique for far longer than Sven and Li Na.
One last reason for practicing their lightning spell on the range was they could now go to Emil and let him know that they had completed their lesson plans a few weeks early. They would have finished earlier, but they had also been practicing the augmenting techniques Li Na had taught them, and they could now augment other objects so long as they held them. It wasn’t as much of an advantage as they had hoped, as weapons like swords were designed to be light, that was the entire reason for features like the fuller, but they could still increase the mass enough to have some benefit. The biggest impact was on durability, however, which meant no more rolled or chipped edges after a fight. They might not be able to crumple shields or win fights with a single strike like Li Na did, but they could both hit harder and do so without concern for their weapon.
Lauren discovered the offensive advantage their weapons did receive, and completely by accident as well. She struck a shield with her spear, intending for the augmentation to add some extra mass behind her strike, but the spear penetrated deeply enough for the shield to splinter.
Yaric and Sven tested with their swords, and it quickly became apparent that the general spell they were using would augment all properties of their weapons, at least as they saw them. That meant that swords cut as if they were somehow sharper, and both weapons penetrated far more deeply than expected when thrust.
It was a significant combat upgrade.
Unfortunately Yaric had no luck with extending the spell to his arrows. The spell would take, but it was channeled, and he had no way to keep the spell going once the arrow was fired. Li Na somehow managed similar applications, such as with her infamous dice, but her explanations made it clear that it wasn’t something he would be able to master any time soon.
“I didn’t really believe you would finish learning everything before the year ended,” Emil admitted, shaking his head. They were back in the classroom, showing him their completed list of spells. In truth, there was one spell that only Yaric had successfully used, but the transference spell was the most complicated they had, and it didn’t come from their magic lessons.
“All right, I’m going to add a few more. Nothing exceptional, mind you, but very useful spells nonetheless. The big addition won’t be spells though. I think it would serve you well if I were to add several more components for the creation of elements and compounds. You four can continue to mix and match as you have been doing, but now with a larger variety of options. And keep in mind that these components would have to be learned next year anyway, so you’re also going to get a head start there.”
Yaric felt like Emil was trying to defend the choice of spells, but he didn’t see anything wrong with the suggestion. They could expand on what they already knew while also getting a head start on the next year.
“Done,” Emil said, handing back the last crystal. “You each get two new augmentation spells. Both give a general boost to your body like the spells you already have, but the first also boosts the mind. You’ll be able to make better use of your enhanced speed and power with that one.
“The second spell boosts your senses, particularly your vision and hearing. The boost to the mind will also help you process the extra sensory input, but try to practice this one while sitting until you get used to it. Also try to remember that you will have less of a physical boost with these two spells. You can push everything and anything to whatever limit you like in the future, but you can’t channel enough arcana to make meaningful improvements to everything at the same time.”
Yaric was happy, particularly with the second spell. Only time would tell, but he felt like it could be particularly helpful with archery and scouting lessons. Both were with Ivan, so he would certainly ask.
“There are also two shaping spells,” Emil continued. “The first is a wind spell much like your first, but the air moves down and splits around you, creating an expanding wall of wind that blows out with you in the center. It loses power rapidly with distance, but it is a very useful defensive spell.
“The second is essentially the same, only with fire added to the spell. The inner core of air is still maintained to protect you from the heat, so the first spell is a requirement for the second,” he explained.
Yaric checked both spells and immediately recognized the similarities. Yet, neither seemed all that complicated, despite the tone of voice Emil used when explaining what they did. The spells were certainly beyond what any of them could have accomplished a year ago, but they knew far more complicated spells at this point. Yaric even felt like they would finish both before the new year started.
Emil must have seen the expression on Yaric’s face. “Let me know if you finish these as well and I’ll add the spell your lighting stones use. You will be able to cast beams of light whenever you want. It’s really a rather flexible spell.”
“Can we control the wind direction?” Li Na asked, examining her lesson plan.
“No, this spell will always expand outward in every direction. I take it you’re looking for a wide front but with the ability to focus on one direction?” Emil asked in return.
Li Na simply nodded in reply, though the others looked confused.
“What does that mean?” Yaric asked, trying to piece Li Na’s objective together. “It sounds like you’re talking about the spell we learned right at the beginning.”
“It would help if we could hit everyone in front of us without hitting anyone next to us,” she said, as if that clarified everything. “Because if we’re fighting together then this spell would hit all of you as well,” Li Na explained. “It would be more useful if we could focus it in some areas.” Li Na waved her hand in a short arc as she spoke.
“Ahhh…” It did make sense to Yaric, and he could think of a couple of times when it would have come in handy.
“There are spells like that,” Emil said. “There is even a particularly famous ice spell that is usually used to break defensive lines, but you four are far from being able to cast such a spell.”
“We’ll let you know once we are done with these,” Sven said, before thanking their instructor and going to find somewhere to sit. There wasn’t much time left in the lesson, but they could at least get somewhat familiar with the spells in the time that remained.
Yaric was actually more excited about the augmentation spells for once. Being able to track movements and react faster would be a significant bonus if he could get the spell working before the end of the year. Their Winter Solstice Tournament would be held in just a few weeks.
“Did you see the components High Wizard Spyros gave us?” Lauren asked, a big smile on her face. They were heading to the food hall for lunch after their lesson.
“No. Something interesting?” Yaric asked.
“Lots. There are some basic components like cobalt, and much more complicated things like lubricants. There are even two that I confirmed are used as explosives.”
“Maybe he wants us to integrate proper explosives into a spell,” Yaric wondered.
Lauren shrugged. “No idea. He also included marble and a component that forms metals into thin wires that are tangled into a sponge. I don’t know what we could use any of those for.”
“Some might be useful for our other lessons,” Sven pointed out.
“I’ve seen wire sponges,” Li Na added. “They’re useful for cleaning hard things. They scrape stuff off.”
The discussion was interrupted when they entered the food hall and found Kaylin, Anton, and Kaeden. They had left on their first out-of-town appeal five days earlier and no one had seen them since, so everyone wanted to know how it had gone.
“It turned out to be a monster,” Kaylin grinned. “Our first one!”
“You had a monster tearing holes in fences and taking sheep?” Sven asked, looking concerned.
“Yep,” Kaeden replied. “It was an air elemental, just a little one. Not much more than a meter tall.”
“So, Lina sized?” Yaric asked, already dodging the kick to his shins.
“Ha, it didn’t hit as hard though,” Kaylin laughed. “The owner thought his neighbor was trying to get revenge for some old argument they had, so we staked out the herd. Then the fence just starts shaking and breaking apart. We thought someone was using magic.”
“Something kind of was,” Kaeden agreed. “There was a small air elemental going berserk and trashing the fence. Some of the sheep didn’t get away in time and they got hurt, but the elemental ignored them. That’s why the sheep kept getting injured but only one ever died.”
“Do we even know any spells that could hurt an elemental?” Lauren asked.
Kaylin laughed. “We weren’t sure either. We tried everything. Anton threw rocks and Kaeden threw fire. I tried water and my spear. Nothing touched it.”
“Don’t forget that the unconnected stories about elements canceling each other aren’t true,” Lauren reminded them.
“We knew, but we tried using earth spells first anyway. It couldn’t hurt,” Kaylin said. “Then Kaeden found a spell that worked, and we all started hitting it. The whole thing took less than ten seconds after that.”
“What spell was it?” Yaric asked.
Kaeden looked at each of them in turn, drawing it out with a wide grin. “I used an air blade.”
“An air spell against an air elemental?” Yaric blurted.
“Yep, took it out in seconds. We were told after that the magic that makes up the elemental is anchored to the air, so if we disrupt it enough using magic then the creature unravels. We hit it with five air blades, all over the parts that seemed to be moving. Kaylin even used a vertical blade. Then it just fizzled out and was gone.”
“Is there any possibility that someone created it?” Sven asked. He still sounded concerned over the incident.
Stolen novel; please report.
“We checked,” Anton replied, speaking up for the first time. “There was only one, and it was so small that everyone is sure it was natural. It probably wouldn’t have even been a problem if there wasn’t a fence in the way.”
“They don’t have any real intelligence,” Lauren said. "And they continually repeat their actions, so if the fence was a problem once then it will be a problem every day.”
“Not anymore,” Kaeden laughed.
All three of them seemed to be far more interested in talking about the journey, however, so Yaric and the others sat with them to hear about the towns they passed and the landmarks they had seen.
They also seemed to think that the villagers were crazy, which made Yaric smile. He knew all too well how small things could be blown out of proportion, and just how much politics could be involved in the most basic deals.
“Oh, and there was a big fight in one of the larger cities,” Anton informed them. “Everything was fine when we went through there on the way out, but whole stores were destroyed in the market district.”
“That sounds more like a riot,” Sven said.
“No, it was just a few people, but they were all arcanists,” Kaylin replied.
“What?!” The others looked just as shocked as Yaric felt.
“They were throwing spells at each other, and apparently local arcanists joined in,” Kaylin said, repeating what they had been told on their way back. “A whole lot of stores were wrecked and some people were killed, including the arcanists who started the fight. The whole city came to a stop.”
Yaric couldn’t believe that so many arcanists would get involved in something like that, especially as they were clearly well-trained. You couldn’t just level buildings without years of dedicated training. And fighting in the middle of a city with people all around?
As he’d thought, news of the entire incident spread and soon it was all anyone could speak about. The people who had told Kaylin about the fight had exaggerated the destruction, but there were destroyed stores and dozens of injured added along with the dead.
Their own story about the air elemental was quickly overshadowed.
Some people with friends or family in Gadence had received word directly, including one eyewitness. Of course, the eyewitness account no longer included exactly who had received the account, but someone had a message with more specific details than ‘a group of arcanists fought each other and destroyed part of a city.’
It appeared to have been rather sudden, or at least no one reported seeing any altercation before spells started to fly. And while one side was markedly less concerned about collateral damage, they had the upper hand in the beginning. Damage was beginning to mount when more and more local arcanists began to arrive, turning the tide and preventing further destruction.
There was no official word, and no Instructor would talk about it other than to say what a tragedy the news had been. They seemed more concerned about the reaction to the event. People were angry. Some blamed arcanists in general, others thought that one group had rescued the city from another. Yet more thought the victorious group could have done a better job. Either way, a lot of people felt powerless, and many of them sought to gain a feeling of control by pushing for new laws or restrictions.
Ivan was the only member of staff who could have information for them, and Yaric and Lauren had a scouting lesson near the end of the day.
“We’re going to practice moving undetected through a rural environment,” Ivan began. “You’ve been learning how to do the same in different types of terrain, but you are also likely to encounter farms, small communities, and the like. Are they sheltering an enemy unit? Are they providing resources? Information? Are they being held hostage? Both of you need to be able to collect information on small settlements without being detected. Most of the time you will simply watch from a distance, but we’re going to make sure you’re prepared.”
Ivan began putting them through multiple exercises near the small farms used to train students dedicated to crops. Here they weren’t just watching for people or clear observation spots, but any and every window, door, or storage area. They had to stay aware of all the sightlines people inside the buildings would have, even though they themselves couldn’t see inside.
They also had to watch where people may come from, and ensure they always had a path to escape. Ivan also had them identify buildings that could hold supplies, hide troops, or be used as observation posts.
“Next year you two will start learning spells that will help you stay unnoticed, but any decent scout can do the job without magic. If an unconnected scout can do something, you damn well better be able to do it as well. Your spells should enhance your skills, not prop them up.”
Yaric and Lauren managed to determine that a farm building was empty and that a storage shed was filled with farming implements, but they were both caught by surprise when a student exited a barn. There had been no sign of anyone from the moment they had arrived, not even any sounds. But he had obviously been in there the entire time, and by then they had begun to assume that the barn was empty.
“This is why any kind of urban environment is so difficult,” Ivan explained. He didn’t seem the least bit upset by their mistake. “There are simply too many variables, too many places to cover and account for. And people live in those environments, so there is always likely to be someone popping up unexpectedly. You can do your best to mitigate the risks, but you can never eliminate them. Even the best scouts can be discovered.
“Which is why you would use magic to move through here in the future.”
“Are we going to learn to make illusions?” Lauren asked hopefully.
“There are all kinds of spells for you to learn. We’re going to start off with shadow-related magic, for obvious reasons. Those spells will mostly be about avoiding notice.”
Ivan’s reply did nothing to dampen Lauren’s enthusiasm. She was happy to learn any new kind of magic.
“Do you know what happened in Gadence?” Yaric suddenly asked, his question coming out of the blue. He’d been wanting to ask from the moment the lesson had started, but there hadn’t been an opportunity until then.
“No, and no one has a full story, so don’t bother asking. There will be an official announcement at some point.”
“Why is it taking so long?” Yaric asked.
“Do you think the Council was watching things in real time, as they happened? They also don’t know everything; they have to find out. People need to be questioned, stories crosschecked, that kind of thing. It’s more important than you think, especially with how angry and scared some people are.”
“I would have thought that would mean they would go faster,” Yaric objected.
“And get something wrong? They still could, they’re relying on others to tell them what they saw, but they can mitigate the risk substantially if they go through everything in advance. What do you think happens if they believe a particular event happened, make an announcement, and then discover they were wrong? There will be accusations of cover-ups or incompetence. Many people will think they were hiding something.”
“Well they can’t know if something is being hidden either way,” Yaric replied.
“That’s true, and there probably will be things they are hiding. If this was because of some weakness in security, they can’t just announce the flaw. Same if someone escaped or had accomplices, they might want to search for them without the suspect knowing he is being hunted. There are a lot of things that are confidential and a security risk if made public, and there could be things like that here. The problem is people already feel powerless so many people won’t accept that they aren’t authorized to know something.”
“So we have to just accept what they say at face value?”
“Do you trust them to run the Academy and govern arcanists without publishing every discussion and secret as things are now?” Ivan countered.
It would have been easy to bring up the mistakes they had made in the past, but he also knew that he couldn’t have done any better. Besides, some weren’t really mistakes. Being unable to find a criminal who was actively hiding wasn’t a flaw on their side. Just like in battle, the enemy gets a vote.
“I’m sure Lloyd will know what’s going on, maybe we can also ask him,” Lauren suggested.
“You’ll have to wait for everyone to work out what happened first,” Ivan said. “But you can’t do that now. Your lesson is almost over, so I want you two to find out what is kept in that silo over there,” Ivan instructed, pointing to the closest silo, “and then you need to confirm if the buildings behind it are occupied. Get to it!”
------- --------- ------- -------- -------- ----- ---------- --------- ----- --------- ------ ------- ---- ---------
Lloyd was planning to meet with Sandy to find out about the fight in Gadence, but he wasn’t expecting to be summoned to the Council. That would mean he was either already involved, or they wanted him to become involved in some way. Of all the possibilities, only his recent foray into Wedal made any sense.
There were already strong indications that the Wedals had been behind the terror attacks in the Kingdom, and likely nearby nations as well, but if they had been behind the fight in Gadence then there would be open war. Not only was their retaliation after the terror attacks justified, but they had struck a military target. There would be open war if Wedal responded by sending arcanists into a civilian city.
The mood was sober when Lloyd entered the chambers. Several others had also been summoned, because over a dozen chairs were laid out before the Council, and almost half we already occupied. He had to wait while they continued to discuss the medical services currently being provided to the victims.
“High Wizard Chen,” Sandy began, greeting him once they were done.
“Council Head.”
“I’m assuming you are aware of the events in Gadence last week?”
“Only what is publicly known,” Lloyd acknowledged. He’d heard many detailed stories, but some differed wildly, and he had yet to find a firsthand source he could trust. To make matters worse, the news had now spread throughout the campus and city, muddying the waters even further.
“Then let me enlighten you. Council Member Underhill was in Gadence to follow a lead in the smuggling operations. As you likely already know, she is particularly good with communication spells, and needing some assistance, she sent her request directly.”
Lloyd immediately began to relax slightly. The criminal operation under investigation wasn’t exactly good news, but the implications of their involvement were far better than if it were a foreign nation.
“Council Members Judd and Curtis responded, along with four others. They were almost at their meeting point when Council Member Curtis noticed that the building they were heading to was under magical surveillance. I’m sure you’re aware of his background in matters of this nature, and it would seem that he has maintained his counterespionage skills all this time.
“They confronted the two observers with the intention to place them under arrest, but they responded by immediately unleashing a salvo of spells on the building occupied by Council Member Underhill. No other reply had been given, just instant and overwhelming destruction. They turned on Curtis and his group next, using both wands and staff. Moreover, four more arcanists soon joined them.
“Curtis has confirmed that some of them were above Wizard or Mage status, and the damage we have seen supports his belief. These were not your average High Wizard or Mage either. They used very powerful and highly complex combat spells, to the point that two Council Members, two High Wizards, and a High Mage were hard-pressed just to stay alive. They were also fighting with one arm behind their backs given the civilians surrounding them. The Wizard accompanying them was knocked out of the fight early on while trying to shield the bystanders.
“It was only due to the timely response of others nearby that a complete disaster was averted. Within five minutes Curtis’s force outnumbered the others two to one, and more kept arriving. According to the reports we’ve received, once the fight shifted in our favor the suspects collapsed very quickly. All six were killed.
“Curtis was badly injured as well, though Underhill is in far worse condition. She must have had defensive spells precast or she would never have survived the initial strike, but she is still going to be recovering for quite some time.
“Fourteen buildings were destroyed in their vicinity, as well as two more several blocks away that were hit by a spell inadvertently deflected into the air. Eight people died, and at least thirty more were injured. We’re still confirming a few other details.”
Lloyd paused before responding, aware that all eyes were on him.
“It’s unusual for criminals to fight to the death like that… I mean, it doesn’t sound like they tried to run.”
“No. We believe they have been keeping our investigators under surveillance, but the arrival of the larger group wasn’t expected. Underhill’s ability to send messages directly over such distances appears to have caught them by surprise. As did Curtis’s detection of their observation. Either they panicked, or they didn’t expect to lose the fight. Both seem likely given the speed of their reaction and the fact that they were killed when unaffiliated arcanists joined in. Wizard Oleksiy’s attempts to defend the bystanders benefited more than just the civilians. Newly arrived arcanists were easily able to identify that one side was protecting the city while the other was the aggressor, resulting in every single one of them coming to our assistance. By all accounts, the fall of the suspects was rather sudden.
“Lekton Academy is now providing healers for all the wounded, including several who will be brought here to have limbs restored. We are also sending a few qualified Apprentices to patrol the city in very visible, very obvious uniforms, to try and calm the situation. At the same time, all possible leads are being aggressively chased down. The King wants this organization gone.”
Lloyd paused again, though this time he was more confused as to why he was summoned for this briefing. “This clarifies a few things for me, and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot more over the coming days, but what does this have to do with me? Why was I summoned here? I’m not involved in this investigation.”
Sandy smiled. It wasn’t much of a smile, but given the circumstances, it must have taken great effort. “Those arcanists were very skilled fighters, capable of standing against some of our best. Yet no one knows who they are. We haven’t been able to identify a single body. All we know right now is that they were never students here. They didn’t come from Lekton Academy.”
“They were foreigners?” Lloyd asked, sounding very concerned. “Surely they weren’t from Wedal?”
“Unlikely,” Sandy replied. “We have reason to believe that they were from a much closer nation. But it does make it more likely that this organization extends beyond our borders, and they do seem to have powerful people at their disposal. As such, the King has ordered that the investigation get priority for now.
“He’s also ordered that the foreign identities be kept secret, which complicates our relations with the unconnected. Things would be far simpler if we could tell people that we protected them from foreign and hostile wizards instead of allowing them to believe some of us went rogue, but we have to work within those confines. That also means that what I’ve just told you doesn’t leave this room,” Sandy added, glaring for a second to make her point.
Lloyd nodded.
“With the current situation as it is, we have had to divert people from war preparations. Because we will be going to war with Wedal sometime in the near future. That’s where you come in. Our current estimates on the pace of negotiations give us a few years before war is likely to be declared. We will also be going to war with at least some allies, depending on who joins us. Reports indicate most nations will, if not all.
“Our problem now is twofold. We are diverting many qualified staff members to investigate these smugglers. That means we are understaffed in other areas, such as answering appeals. At the same time, the impending war means students who are currently in their seventh year or higher are likely to be involved, and they need to be prepared. They won’t have the decades that most get.
“The Council has voted on the issue, and it’s been decided that restrictions on appeals will be lowered. They will still be kept in groups, but appeals usually handled by older and more qualified students will now be open to a larger pool. We simply need the manpower, and they need the experience. Well, we have the manpower, but it would cause some issues, and this way it's win win."
“Lessons will also be adjusted to include increased combat training. We need you to review the curriculum taught from the eighth year and up so they can be adjusted to better prepare the students for combat.
“I’m still hopeful that the alliances will allow us to keep Apprentices and below out of the war, but you know as well as I do that we can’t count on that. They need to be prepared.
“Wedal has grown powerful. They have a considerable population and are backed by an economy that has been on a war footing for centuries. Our King and the other leaders have already decided that the dynasty on the Wedal throne must go, for the good of the continent, but losing this war would also mean eventual defeat at their hands.
“They will keep expanding until they occupy the entire continent unless we stop them. And whether our students will live under their thumb, or with the freedom to choose their own futures, depends on the outcome of the war.
“We need you to make sure they are as ready as they can be, no matter the occupation they want to one day have. Because otherwise, they may never have the chance.
“We need you to prepare them for war.”